SA women’s hockey team in World Hockey League semi-final in London

South Africa heads to Scotland before playing for a place in the 2014 World Cup at the Investec World League semi-finals in London this month

The South African women’s hockey team embarks on a tour of Scotland and England this week that will culminate in the Investec World Hockey League semi-finals in London.

In preparation for the competition the South African squad have just completed a three week camp in China and there is a possibility that they will play in a training match against Argentina when they arrive in London.

The Scotland leg of the tour is set to begin on 11 June and will feature a one-off test match against Ireland. This will be followed by a four-test series against Scotland in Edinburgh from 13 t0 18 June.

The team will leave for London on 19 June ahead of the semi-final which will take place at the University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick from 22 to 30 June.

The tournament will be split into two sections. Pool A will see Argentina, China, the USA and Italy play while Pool B will feature the hosts England against Australia, South Africa and Spain.

The first eight-country World League semi-final will be played in Rotterdam, The Netherlands from 13 to 23 June and features current world number one and defending Olympic champions The Netherlands plus Korea, Japan and Chile along with New Zealand, Germany, India and Belgium.

For all 16 participating teams in the two World League semi-finals, the stakes are high as the top four teams in each event will go through to the eight-team World League finals in Argentina in December.

The two World League semi-finals will also serve as a qualifier for the 2014 World Cup in The Hague, The Netherlands.

The International Hockey Federation has stated that it is not yet definite how many teams from each of the two semi-finals will make it through to the World Cup as that is largely dependent on the Continental Championships. “Needless to say, teams will be eager to finish as high as possible to increase their chances to go to The Hague.”

Ticket prices start at £5 for juniors and £15 for adults and these will enable buyers to watch four world class matches throughout the day.